College Hoops: Davidson dominates Pfeiffer JV

Point guard Darius Howell scored 18 points Monday that included 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.

LEXINGTON —

Darius Howell lobbed an alley-oop pass from 30 feet away to Corey Burnette for a potential slam dunk. Instead, the ball found the bottom of the net for three points. That was the kind of night it was for Davidson County Community College.
Just about anything the Storm did was a success in Monday’s 106-57 pummeling of the Pfeiffer University junior varsity. Four players reached double figures in scoring with the outcome decided in the first 20 minutes with Davidson up 49-22. Daniel Lawson tossed in a game-high 23 points, followed by Howell’s 18 points, Jonathan Curtis 13 points and Brandon Clyburn’s 10. Forrest Allred scored 20 points for the Falcons.
Pfeiffer never held the lead and tied the game once at 8-8. Lawson broke the tie with a three-point play that triggered a 25-6 run to put the Storm well out it front, 33-14. Howell caught fire during the stretch draining a trio of 3-pointers.
Davidson closed out the first half with flare on a play that nearly did not happen. DCCC was scrambling for much of the final seconds until Lawson got them under control and saw Robert Story spotted up behind the arc in the corner. He passed it over to the wing where Story knocked down the trey as time expired, drawing a standing ovation from many of the Brinkley Gym fans as the Storm took a 27-point lead.
“There is no question that was our best half,” said Storm coach Matt Ridge. “Defensively we decided to bend our knees and pressure the ball. We were not reacting, we were anticipating. The guys blocked out and once we got stops we sprinted the floor to get easy baskets in transition. And of course we shot the ball well.”
Matt Ellwood put the Falcons on the board first in the second half 19 seconds in, but it would be nearly three minutes before they scored again. Davidson used that time to further themselves from Pfeiffer. A 12-0 run made it 61-24, a few minutes before Howell accidentally tossed the ball in for three.
The Falcons did string together a 16-2 run, but that made the smallest of dents in a game that was never close.
Davidson held its largest lead at 85-33, and hit 100 points with a minute to go on Brandon Brown’s three-ball on the wing.
“Everybody that went into the game contributed,” Ridge said. “The last five minutes were a little ugly, but the first 35 we really played well. They are a really good junior varsity team so I am really proud of the guys.”
DCCC, 8-1, hosts Johnston Community College Saturday at 3 p.m.

Sports Editor Zach Kepley can be reached at 888-3631, or kepley@tvilletimes.com.